


The Werewolves With Wands (Who Weren't Actually Werewolves)

by Cat_Verona



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Hale Family, Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Awesome Peter, BAMF Erica, BAMF Stiles, Eventual Sterek, Everyone Needs A Hug, Evil Kate, Headmaster Gerard Argent, Humor, Just Hogwarts, Multi, No Harry Potter characters, Peter ships Sterek, Sassy Peter, building toward that, until they're not
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-17
Updated: 2014-06-08
Packaged: 2018-01-12 19:49:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1197273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cat_Verona/pseuds/Cat_Verona
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The story where the teens of Beacon Hills, and some adults, are actually wizards in the Harry Potter universe.</p>
<p>Or...</p>
<p>The one where Scott and Stiles meet for the first time on the Hogwarts Express. Peter is sassier and happier than ever. Derek is happy and young, eyebrows not as bushy. Allison is in Slytherin, but Scott doesn't care. Jackson is still kind of a jerk. Erica and Boyd are alive, and totally awesome. Isaac is the sweet one. And, Deaton is still was too mysterious for Stiles' taste.</p>
<p>Or...</p>
<p>The one where everyone could have been happy and magical. Except the Argents were still around. You know, the murderous ones.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Of Trains, Old Hats and Staircases

**Author's Note:**

> So, Stiles is going to Hogwarts!!! This chapter is pretty much summed up in the title, basically. But, thank you for clicking on this story, please, read away.

         “All aboard! All aboard!” a man in a red uniform yelled as he walked down the train platform. A harried looking man with short brown hair and blue eyes appeared then, tugging along a young, distracted looking boy with buzzed brown hair and whiskey colored eyes. The platform was full of parents, kissing their children good bye or pestering them through open windows about keeping their grades up or writing home, as the man knelt in front of his son.

        “Stiles, I know that its been rough but everything will be fine. I promise. No Chocolate Frogs or Fire Whiskey for me. And, for the love of Merlin, take your Focusing potion. Or, the professors might pop you right back onto the train.” Stiles smiled at his father's lame joke, nodding along slowly to his words in agreement.

        “Alright, Dad. I'll see you at Christmas, yeah?” Stiles asks, becoming distracted by everything around him. The train whistled warningly, cutting off the man's good bye but Stile's saw his nod of agreement and answering smile. Stiles kissed him good bye hastily, lugging his trunk onto the steps and into the train. He turned and saw his father watching warily, looking for all the world as if he just wanted to jump on the train with his son. “I'll be fine, I promise. Watch what you eat, okay?” he yelled down worriedly.

        His father waved his hand and smiled “Alright, alright. Go make some friends.” The train began moving and his father was out of sight. Stiles huffed out a sigh, rubbing his hands over his buzzed hair. He looked left, then right down the train's corridor. An explosion of some sort, along with the expelling of some sort of violet gas appeared down the left way. Right it is, he thought automatically. He trotted off, determinedly looking in each compartment as he passed. No. No. No. Oh, Merlin, no, went his inner monologue. Finally, he found a compartment with just four people in it, none of them talking to each other. Hesitantly, he knocked on the glass.

       “Hello.” he said shortly “Can I sit here?” the blonde girl, the only girl, the one who opened the door, answered.

       “I don't see why not.” she murmured in a small voice. Her hair was a soft blonde that poofed around her narrow face and she had big, brown eyes that reminded Stiles of a baby deer. He muttered a quiet thank you and slipped into the seat next to the boy with floppy brown hair and puppy dog eyes. The boy across from him had dark blonde curls and sad blue eyes, a bruise showed on his wrist that Stiles attributed to a go on a broomstick. The last boy in the compartment seemed tall for his age, even sitting down, with black skin and darker eyes. No one, except the boy next to him, seemed that happy.

       The boy with the crooked jaw and puppy dog eyes turned to face Stiles, a happy smile flittering its way onto his face. “Hi, I'm Scott. Who are you?” Stiles grinned at the pure happiness exuding from him, it seemed to soak into him too. The girl watched the two talk, sinking into herself until Stiles turned to look at her too. “What's your name?”

       Her eyes widened at the attention but she quickly supplied him with an answer “Erica Reyes.” Stiles smiled at Erica goofily, before asking the same question to the other boys. He found out the angel looking boy was named Isaac Lahey and the other was boy was simply Boyd. They started talking about magic and which House they wanted to be in. Scott spoke about how his entire family, both sides, had either been in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw and how he wasn't sure which one he wanted to be in. Isaac snorted into his hand at this, clearly not thinking that Scott was exactly Ravenclaw material.

       Most everyone else gave one word answers or, in Boyd's case, vague grunts. Only Scott was completely open about everything, telling all about how his dad was an Auror but he left him and his mom (who was a healer at St. Mungos). Isaac mentioned that his dad was a muggle. Erica talked about her dad's job at Transportation for the Ministry. Boyd mumbled something about a sister that no one really caught. The entire time Stiles laughed and made snarky comments so no one would notice. So no one would notice him not saying a word about his life except that his dad was a muggle policeman.

      They spent the entire train ride laughing and talking about what the school might be like. They took turns predicting who would end up in each house (it had to be explained to Boyd, who was a muggle born, and Isaac, who had never been told about Hogwarts, apparently). Scott was predicted by almost everyone to be in Gryffindor, except by Erica who proclaimed him to a be a Hufflepuff. Boyd was unpredictable everyone agreed, sans Erica who ( surprise, surprise) said Hufflepuff. Isaac was sorted Hufflepuff on a unanimous vote, to the pleasure of a smug little blonde. Erica voted herself Slytherin and no one had the heart to argue, with the determined little blonde. Stiles was, except by Erica, voted into a position in Ravenclaw. But, Erica didn't predict Hufflepuff for Stiles. “You'll be in Gryffindor.” she said in a serious tone “I can just tell.”

      By the time the train finally reached their destination, each of the first years were in their robes. Isaac kept fidgeting and bumping into Boyd's shoulder as they all stood up, Erica was hanging onto Stiles on one side with Scott mirroring her on the other. Stiles had never felt so at home since... No. Bad Stiles, he chided himself mentally. He refused to go down that road during the Sorting night. He took a deep breath and lead their little gaggle of eleven year-olds onto the platform.

     People were everywhere, and Stiles did not like it. But, poor Isaac was practically having a fit which immediately caused Scott to go in for a suffocating hug, which, seemed to make it worse. “Move it, or lose it kiddies!” yelled a tall brunette who strutted past them, wearing Slytherin colors and knocking into Erica. Stiles caught Erica and looked up to glare after the smirking girl but she was already gone. Stiles had no idea where to go now, but before he could follow the stream of older students a firm, somehow quiet sounding voice called out over the stream of babbling student voices.

     “First years! To me! Toward the lake! First years, to me!” Stiles tossed his head around to find the origin of the voice but found nothing except a slow, but steady trickle of other first years in the voice's general direction. Tugging on Erica, who latched onto Boyd, who grabbed the still entangled duo of Scott and Isaac, Stiles steered the five of them toward the voice who was still yelling for first years. Stiles was faintly surprised when he saw the man belonging the commanding voice.

     He was unassuming at first; his skin a few shades lighter than Boyd's and his stature wasn't especially tall or imposing, his clothing was a simple black robe that wasn't too swishy and looked very practical. But he still had every first year's attention. He had a kind of quiet authority and intelligence that seemed to exude from him. Stiles liked him and didn't trust him at the same time. By the time that all the first years had been gathered on the lake's shore ( a boy named Greenberg had tried walking through the forest but Deaton had quickly returned with the frightened, pallid skinned boy after only a moment), almost all of the older students had secured a carriage pulled by the horrible looking, skeletal horses. Scott had given him a weird look when Stiles had mentioned them but Stiles quickly shrugged it off as a lame joke so his new friend wouldn't think he was crazy.

     The quiet, commanding man started talking and everyone shut up “My name is Professor Deaton, I teach Care of Magical Creatures. To get to the school we will be using these boats,” Deaton waved his hand, not his wand, and a small fleet of tiny boats appeared, “ To each boat goes four students. I implore you to keep your appendages inside unless you wish to lose them,” a small smattering of nervous laughter followed this, “When we arrive at the school I will escort you into the school before leaving you in the...capable hands of another professor. Any questions? Good. Let us be off, then.” Deaton swished toward his boat at the front of the fleet and ,with sparring hesitant glances, the students followed. The five new friends exchanged nervous looks, none sure who wasn't sitting with the group. Erica decided for them.

     “Isaac can sit in the front, then Scott, then Stiles, with Boyd in the back.” Isaac looked at her in surprise.

     “You mean you're not sitting with us?” he asked.

      Stiles almost laughed at how dramatic Isaac made it sound. Erica simply rolled her eyes at the poor curly-haired boy. “Of course, I'm sitting with you. I can sit on Boyd's lap.” she then proceeded to flounce down to the rapidly filling boats. Boyd looked startled for half a second, before his blank mask slipped into place and he followed her. Scott, Isaac and Stiles trailed behind, not sure what had just happened. The boys all shuffled into the row boat like Erica had told them, ordered them, to. Erica then slipped onto Boyd's lap, her legs extending out around Stiles on both sides. Deaton seemed to notice and he raised a single eyebrow, which was met by a pair of defiant brown eyes that quickly skittered away. But, Erica didn't move and Stiles could have sworn that he saw Professor Deaton smile minutely.

      A boy behind them yelped as, with a stomach jerking motion, the boats surged forward. Stiles was staring out over the peaceful waves when Scott frantically turned around, shaking the boat. He looked at Stiles with huge, dumb struck eyes and asked “Did you see her?” Stiles gave him a baffled look and peered around them, spotting quite a few girls (a particularlly pretty strawberry-blonde) but he had no clue who Scott was talking about.

     “Who, dude? There are like, a billion girls here.” but Scott only groaned at the question. The other three occupants were listening curiously now, except maybe Boyd. But Stiles wasn't sure if Boyd had any other expressions except the default, bored and annoyed one.

      Erica quickly piped in. “What does she look like?” she was gazing around avidly, and almost jealousy, for Scott's mystery girl. Isaac was doing the same, except he craned his head more as he didn't seem to want to rock the boat, unlike Erica. Even Boyd's eyes seemed to be twitching from person to person expectantly.

      Scott sighed out a long gust of breath, looking even dopier than when Stiles had first met him. “She has, like, wavy brown hair. Dark brown, almost black. And, her eyes they look like the night sky right now- so dark and pretty.” Erica definitely looked jealous now, but also starstruck as she listened to Scott speak all sappily. Boyd looked uncomfortable and Isaac looked nervous, like he expected an angel to be sitting on one of the boats next to them. Stiles spotted her, or who he thought was her.

      “Is that her? The one two boats to our left? Behind the strawberry blonde, in front of the dark haired guy that hasn't stopped talking since we got on these things?” Stiles asked, a little bit of annoyance leaking into his voice. He wasn't being dramatic about the guy, he really hadn't stopped talking. Stiles thought his name might have been Jackson, or something.

      Scott nodded eagerly “That's her.”

     Everyone in their little boat examined her for a moment. Erica spoke first. “Eh.”

     Scott spluttered at her for the rest of the boat ride to the castle looming in front of them.

*********************************************************************************************************

     Could Stiles get back on the little boat now? He felt like he was going to puke. That this was all a big mistake. He didn't belong here, guys like Jackson belonged here. The only magical link he had was dead, and just being here was ripping him apart. He couldn't, couldn't, couldn't, couldn't-

    “Stiles!” Scott cried out, looking at him in panic. It didn't occur to Stiles that he'd been saying that out loud, but apparently he had been. Only a moment ago they had been waiting for that professor that Deaton had said would be there, then Stiles had started panicking. Erica had managed to find them a way to slip out of their crowd of first years and into a deserted corridor. Stiles hadn't had a panic attack in almost a year, but being here-

    “You have panic attacks?” Erica asks this in a quiet voice. Stiles freezes and bemoans his lack of keeping his thoughts to himself. But Erica just keeps looking at him quietly until he nods. She takes a deep breath and starts talking quietly. “I have, or had...seizures. My body locks up and I taste blood, and then...then, I don't have control over my body at all. I start flopping and twisting. Now, I have a potion I take, but if I were to forget it... I don't forget.” Stiles' eyes were huge, just like the other boys, but before he can respond Scott starts talking, too.

    “I got really angry when my dad left. My magic would explode out of me, sometimes for hours. I couldn't control it, and it got so bad my mom started worrying that she'd have to take me somewhere to help me because... because it could hurt people. I was so scared I'd never be able to come here. But my mom told me to be my own anchor, so I am. But, I'm always afraid that I might lose control again. Hurt someone.”

    Stiles' head was spinning and it got worse when Isaac started whispering in a terrified voice. “My dad...he doesn't like magic. He blames it for my mom's death and my brother's. My brother was in training to be an Auror but he got killed. My mom had died the year before, from some sickness that all our magic couldn't cure. He started to put me in this little crawl space in the bottom of one of our closets. He'd leave me in for hours sometimes. I can't be in small spaces, I start fighting to get out. I haven't felt safe at home since then.” Boyd decided to speak the most he had all day after that. After Isaac gave a heart breaking story, while Erica admitted to a weakness and Scott told his worst fear.

    Boyd looked at him for a second before saying “I killed my sister. We were young. Ice skating. She fell through the ice. I wasn't there to save her. It was my fault, no matter what anyone says.” A lot shorter than everyone else but no less brave, in Stiles' opinion. He looked at the four people he had just met today and felt a familiar and missed feeling stir in his stomach. Safety. Warmth. Family. He had his dad, always would, but things weren't loud and bright like they used to be. Now, that feeling his mom always gave him was back. He'd only known them for a day, not even, and they poured out their darkness to him. To each other.

    Stiles smiled.

   “Let's go see if the professor is there yet.” Stiles said with as much projected warmth as he could. Erica beamed at him, Scott grinned happily, Isaac shyly smiled and Boyd gave one of the smallest, but truest, smiles Stiles had ever seen. Stiles decided that he could definitely do this.

*************************************************************************************************************

   Stiles could most definitely _not_ do this. The professor had come, Professor Hale. He had been snarky and condescending, announcing that he taught Transfiguration and that they should follow him-- unless they wanted to go home and not be sorted, he really didn't care. He then spun on his heel, his smug smile and goatee flashing out of view.

   Now, Stiles stood in a long line of rainbow colored children. There was green, the color of sickness from fear, and white, pure, unadulterated fear, and red/pink, the color of embarrassment from every eye being on you. Professor Hale stood next to a stool with a ragged look hat on it. Stiles did not trust that hat. At all. To prove his distrust right, the hat started singing. Stiles did not trust inanimate objects that sang. Or danced. Or did anything but be inanimate.

  ** _I am the hat that has seen them all;_**

**_Short and Tall_ **

**_Big and Small._ **

**_The Great and The Good,_ **

**_And those that with evil would._ **

**_I was made to sort you out,_ **

**_This should be an easy route._ **

**_Ravenclaw will be your fit,_ **

**_if you are studious with good wit._ **

**_The glory of Gryffindor awaits,_ **

**_if your courage abounds and your fear abaits._ **

**_Slytherin are carefully selected,_ **

**_through cunning and if by power affected._ **

**_And, loving Hufflepuff shall receive the rest,_ **

**_if compassion and loyalty are your best._ **

**_So put me on and let me decide,_ **

**_on the House in which you will reside._ **

      Stiles' eyebrows went up, but he applauded with the rest of the room. The hat thought of a song. The _hat_ thought of a song. Magic is weird, Stiles thought fondly. He fondness disapparated when Professor Hale stepped forward, flicking out his wrist with a flourish and a long list of names came unraveling. He flashed a sharp smile out at the audience, then looked down, read the first name and snickered. He cleared his throat and called out “The granddaughter of our illustrious Headmaster and History of Magic teacher-- Argent, Allison.” The girl was clearly mortified but Scott was freaking out for totally different reasons.

      “Allison!” he hissed at Stiles from his position behind him. “Her name is Allison.”

      Stiles rolled his eyes. “Great job, buddy. You figured it out before any--” the Sorting hat cut him off as it yelled out--

     “ ** _SLYTHERIN!_** ” a loud round of cheering sounded from the green and silver table. The brunette shot her grandfather a happy, little smile before walking off to her new House. Scott groaned behind him and Stiles felt pain for his new friend. It was clear that being in Slytherin was a family thing, it also looked bad for Scott's chances when the girl proceeded to sit down next to the Slytherin girl who had almost knocked Erica over earlier.

      Professor Hale sighed “Yes, yes. Congratulations. Moving on now.” he read off two other 'A' names and one 'B' before reaching “Vernon, Boyd.” Stiles watched the tall boy pull away from Erica's clutching hands and could only think, Vernon? Really? He apparently said that out loud because both Isaac and Scott snickered while Erica sent him and annoyed glare. Stiles quickly turned from sticking out his tongue at her to give Boyd a thumbs up, which was received stoically. After a few moments the hat called out--

      “ _ **GRYFFINDOR!**_ ” the red and gold table erupted in cheers, Boyd smiled. He actually smiled. Full on teeth and glinting eyes for a few seconds. It was then Stiles realized that Boyd had wanted Gryffindor after he had learned about it, and Stiles couldn't be happier for him. Boyd was definitely brave, earlier showed that. To admit weakness, guilt or fear to help someone else was the epitome of bravery to Stiles. It quickly dawned on Stiles, as he watched Boyd walk to his new House, that all of his friends had been brave earlier, they had put their pain out there to help him.

       The rest of the Sorting seemed to move in slow motion to Stiles. Professor Hale seemed to delight in torturing them with his comments and snide remarks. But, it kept moving. The next name he caught was that Greenburg kid, he was in Hufflepuff. Not long after a girl named Cora Hale was called up, almost immediately being placed in Gryffindor. Professor Hale beamed at her which Stiles found odd until he realized that they were probably related and that he was an idiot for not making that connection quicker. He decided Ravenclaw probably wasn't for him.

       More names passed, and more it seemed. Until another familiar name had Stiles focusing again. “Lahey, Isaac.” Professor Hale called out with boredom. The sweet kid directly in front of Stiles straightened, and tipped his chin up, before walking toward Hale like this was the easiest thing in the world. Even before the brim of the hat touched Isaac's head, Stiles knew and so he was not surprised when “ ** _GRYFFINDOR!_** ” was called out. Stiles saw everyone cheer, he was aware that he cheered a little too as Isaac took his seat next to Boyd. There were a few more people before it was Scott's turn. Mahealani, Danny became a Ravenclaw, so did the strawberry-blonde named Lydia Martin. When Scott was called up, it surprised exactly no one when he was proclaimed a Gryffindor and joined Boyd and Isaac.

       Another section of ambiguous faces and names were called until Erica was put out of her misery. Stiles saw her bite her lip when the hat was on, remembering her proclamation of being a Slytherin and wondered if that had anything to do with it. Before he could decide, another Gryffindor was called out to the Hall. And, Stiles became panicked. He wasn't brave enough for Gryffindor, not in his opinion, but he couldn't be in a House full of strange people.

      It didn't take long until Stiles was pushed out of his fretting by an amused “By Godric, that is a horrible name. How would you even...Gena—Gene—Gennei..never mind. Stilinksi, something!” Hale called, highly amused. Stiles glared at the man as he walked forward, plopping down onto the stool. A second later and darkness engulfed his eyes as a voice filled his head.

      _Well, Mr. Stilinski, what have we here? Not a Ravenclaw? Not a Gryffindor? Not a Slytherin? Not a Hufflepuff? What exactly do you think you are? A muggle? No, no silly boy. Don't panic. I know exactly where to put you. But, first, a question. What do you want to do?.....Interesting...very interesting. You want to protect others. Then, you must be—“ **GRYFFINDOR!”**_

      Stiles' jaw popped a little as the hat was lifted and the cheering met his ears. Professor Hale gave him a begrudging nod before Stiles practically sprinted into the seat next to Scott. He couldn't stop smiling as his friends clapped him on the back and greeted him warmly. He was a Gryffindor. A protector.

   ***********************************************************************

      Dinner had been brilliant. The last two students to be sorted had been a Slytherin, Jackson Whittmore. And girl named Kira was the very last , then she was sorted into Ravenclaw with Lydia, who Stiles had already decided to marry. Then, Headmaster Argent had given a short, speech of do's and don'ts before letting them eat. Stiles was ready to burst. He had lost count of how many rolls and spoonfuls of meat-y things he had consumed. The boys had eaten ravenously, Erica almost more so. They hadn't mingled with others much. Stiles had passed some carrots to another relative of Professor Hale. His name was Derek and he seemed amazingly happy to have them joining Gryffindor House. He was a third year and seemed to be very popular with everyone.

      By the end of the meal, Stiles could have just collapsed upon the table and fallen asleep there, but Professor Argent rose from his ornate chair and started to address the student body. “Welcome, one and all. To another year at Hogwarts! I won't take up much of your time, but think on this before you curl into your beds and sleep. We just divided our number into four Houses. But we are all the same school. Never forget that. Never forget that we also play for a House Cup, which the older students will explain first years. That requires that every student stride to do their personal best. This school is made up of the individual, the faction and the whole as one entity. Good night.” Stiles clapped like everyone else but couldn't help thinking that that had been rather abrupt. He shrugged and stretched, only to hear a male voice yelling for first year Gryffindors. He met Deaton's eyes as he though, _now where have I heard this before?_ Almost seeming to read his mind, Deaton smiled at him and nodded.

     Stiles awkwardly waved before running after Scott and the other vanishing Gryffindors. He caught up right as their leader said “Some of the staircases will have trick stairs, or move while you're walking on them. The people in the paintings move around, don't trust them to be your guide points. Also—” Stiles sighed in union with Scott. Magic, Stiles thought much less fondly as he got his foot stuck not five minutes later.


	2. A Quick Look Into Stiles' First Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles has a nightmare, Isaac is the one to help him through it. Classes start and Stiles gets to deal with Professor Hale and Finstock all in one day.

Stiles was standing in the white hallway, a place he never wanted to be at again. Unlike last time, the hospital ward was silent. Stiles could hear his uneven breathing, feel his heart speeding up audibly. Like last time though, there was one door cracked open with a soft yellow light spilling out of it. Stiles slowly started forward, looking around for anyone to tell him that he didn't have to go through this again.

He felt like he aged a century as he walked toward the door, his mouth felt dry and his hands were shaking like he had almost fallen off of a broom. Stiles slowly extended one trembling hand and pushed open the door seeing something the same and worse than last time. When he'd been here before it had been his mom, laying skeletaly thin and pale in the medical bed sheets. Her smile had seemed flakey but she reassured him that she would see him again, that it would turn out fine. 

She had lied.

Now, it wasn't her and that made it worse. Because it was his dad. The normally protective and omnipresent police captain, the man who would hug Stiles when he was scared and try to sneek unhealthy foods when he thought Stiles wasn't looking. He seemed shrunken, a shadow of his former self. His skin was an unhealthy yellow, his eyes were sunken in, his hair was gone and the hospital gown he was wearing did nothing to hide the fact that he was deathly skinny. Stiles started shaking and sobbing as his father turned his head toward him. "It's okay, son." he cracking voice whispered.

Stiles slid down the closest wall, begging a string of unidentifiable denials. Stiles frantically cleared his throat to try and talk to his dad "No. N-no, dad. You're not, you're...this is a dream. It's not real. It's not. It's  _not_." His dad gave him a sad smile and said the same thing his mother had said before she had left him.

"It's fine, my little Generosb. I'll see you again tomorrow, okay? Everything will be fine. Now, go see if a doctor can come in here for a second." Stiles shook his head in a silent no, watching as his dad's eyes slowly shut and his chest stopped raising and falling. Unlike his mother, his father's death portrayed what would happen with time. John Stilinski started decaying. His skin grayed and fractured where the veins used to run. His eyes seemed to vanish into his head. Stiles could almost hear his bones turning to dust, it sounded like two pieces of sand paper rubbing together.

Stiles curled up into himself, shaking like a leaf. He had no one. He was alone. He couldn't be alone. He  _couldn't_. 

He started screaming when fingers that felt like flaking tree bark touched his arm and a broken, garbled voice started hissing his name. "Stiles? Stiles? Stiles?" the hand started shaking him, the fingers feeling more and more like flesh "Stiles? Stiles, wake up." the voice became a familiar one. That was how Stiles woke up. The sound of Isaac's worried voice called him out of hell and into his bed in the Gryffindor boy's dormitory room. Stiles was covered in sweat, twisted in the sheets with a death grip on Isaac's wrist. The boy in question looked as if he was about to cry as he looked at Stiles' stricken face.

"Hey, Isaac. What are you doing up?" Stiles croaked. He really hoped that he hadn't woken him, he clearly hadn't woken Boyd, an unmoving lump under his sheets, or Scott, who was half way off of his bed, pillow under his stomach as his mouth gaped open. Isaac shifted closer to Stiles, slowly tugging him free of the constricting sheets.

Isaac shrugged before he answered "It's dawn and I wake up early any way. Then, I saw you thrashing around..." he shot Stiles an apologetic look, as if waiting to be punished for interfering. 

"Don't be sorry, dude." Stiles whispered as he sat up, rubbing his knuckles into his eyes "Thank you. Really. I didn't want to be in there anymore." Isaac nodded at Stiles' words, looking relieved. The first rays of the sun starting filtering into the room then, making Isaac look like he had a halo. Stiles laughed softly at this image, making Isaac tip his head to the side in questioning. "Never mind, man. Let's just, I don't know, sit for awhile." 

Isaac scrambled up the bed so he was leaning against Stile's headboard, Stiles following only a second later. Isaac shot him a sideways look "Do you want-" Stiles just shook his head no. He didn't want to talk about it at all. Just sitting was nice, watching their first day dawn at Hogwarts.  This was how Boyd found them about half-an-hour later. Boyd rolled out of his bed, wandered to the door of their shared bathroom and walked in, not even glancing around. When he came back out he was pulled up short at the sight of the two boys sitting shoulder to shoulder on Stiles' bed, watching the sun finish its rise.

Stiles and Isaac were pulled up short too, when Boyd softly sat on the edge of the bed and squeezed in next to Isaac. Not a word was said though, as the, now three, boys sat in companionable silence. Until Scott broke it. By falling out of his bed. 

Onto his face.

Stiles had never laughed harder.

***********************************************************

It didn't take the boys long to get ready. They pulled on their robes and brushed their teeth, grabbed their bags and headed into the common room. It didn't take Erica long either. But for the five minutes that they waited for her, Stiles saw Derek again. He still looked happy and was surrounded by people, but he waved at Stiles and called out a good morning. Stiles just grinned in reply, it was all he had time for before Erica hurtled into him. "MORNING!" she yelled into his ear, like he was hard of hearing. Which he might have been after that very unlady-like bellow in his ear.

As they left, Erica switched to Boyd's back, her ponytail bouncing with every step he took. Scott immediately started talking about Allison, to the boys' amusement and Erica's displeasure. "Do you think she'll talk to me? Will her grandfather let her? Should I be worried he's one of our professors? And the Headmaster? Or, am I over-" Boyd cut him off when even Stiles couldn't follow his rapid fire talking any longer.

"You'll see her eventually. Think of breakfast, instead." Boyd advised calmly. Erica giggled softly as Scott eyed him in disbelief. Isaac had pointedly become distracted the portraits on the walls.

Stiles grinned at Boyd and elbowed Scott "No wiser words have been spoken." Scott roled his eyes but stopped talking about Allison. The quintet managed to make their way to the Great Hall, snagging Greenburg on the fourth floor. He had gotten  _really lost_. The Hufflepuff common room, they learned, was one floor  _under_ the ground floor. But, Greenburg had gotten disoriented when he ran from some older Slytherins thinking that they were going to jinx him, and then he had gotten his foot stuck in a vanishing stair. He'd been there for twenty minutes, getting scolded by two old witches in a cabbage patch portrait. Boyd and Scott grabbed under his armpits and hauled him out, all of them hastily agreeing to having him sit with them at breakfast-- seeing as he hadn't made any new friends the night before.

When the entered the Hall, the faux sky was a bright blue with no clouds in sight. Erica jumped off of Boyd's back and hurried to a spot at the Gryffindor's table. The boys followed her, Greenburg thanking them,  _again_ , for rescueing him and letting him sit with them. They loaded up their plates with bacon, toast, eggs, orange slices and grape halves. Erica tried to eat like a girl, demure and pretty, but quickly became engaged in a battle with Boyd over who could eat the most bacon the quickest. They had all watched in shock as little Erica beat Boyd by four pieces of bacon with ease. Stiles was highly intimidated, while Greenburg gaped at her like he wasn't sure what she was supposed to be.

Before Stiles could accept Scott's challenge of most grape fruit with ketchup in under a minute, a piece of parchment was slapped down in front of him. Startled, he looked up at a unfamiliar and cold face. "Your schedules, first years. Think of them as your safety blankets that mommy and daddy used to have for you." The Professor talking to them swept off in a huff, he had short black-brown hair and icy eyes. Stiles liked him even less than the hat or Professor Hale. Greenburg, realizing that his schedule would be at the Hufflepuff table, said a hasty good bye and retreated back to his House table. Erica looked after him for a second.

"Does anyone know his first name?" she asked, looking at them in mild interest. Boyd gave a vague grunt, Isaac shook his head, Stiles shrugged and Scott furrowed his brow in useless concentration. None of them knew his name. Erica shrugged, interest already passed, and examined her schedule. Stiles quickly read through his, memorizing the names with the subjects.

**Professor Peter Hale- Transfiguration**

**Professor Jennifer Blake- Charms**

**Professor Adrian Harris- Potions**

**Professor Gerard Argent- History of Magic**

**Professor Marin Morell- Herbology**

**Professor Oliver Hornwood- Defense Against the Dark Arts**

**Coach Robert Finstock- Quiditch Referee/ Flying Instructor**

**  
**Stiles couldn't help but peek at Scott's list, just to make sure the had the same things. They did. Isaac asked the table quietly "Do you guys have Charms first?" there was a chorus of nods and the quintet was off again.

*******************************************************************************************

Their first class was taught by Professor Blake, a very pretty brunette who appeared to be soft spoken. She had spoken about Charms for about ten minutes, the pros of mastering it and the useful things it could be used for. She demonstrated a few things: Greenburg's chair went flying out from under him, Erica's hair levitated around her face and Blake summoned her book of Charms: Year One so that she could give them a quick reading assignment. She informed them that it would be a mostly practical class but, just like tonight, there would be book work too. Stiles decided that he would like this class, especially if Professor Blake turned out to have a bit of a wicked streak.

Next, was Professor Hale's class. They had this with the Ravenclaws, so naturally Stiles was distracted the whole time. Stiles was absorbed with how Lydia's hair turned more red in the sunlight filtering into the class. He was startled out of his revere when his quill suddenly became a live snake in his hand. He let out a loud yell of protest and scrambled back off of his chair. The Ravenclaws laughed out right, while his friends and fellows Gryffindors held their snickers into the crooks of their elbows. Professor Hale padded forward, smirking "Do I have your attention now, Mr. Stilinski?" Stiles nodded quickly, eyeing the quill that had just been a snake. Professor Hale examined him for a moment longer, before his smirk grew wider and he continued talking about the values of Transfiguration. Lydia was looking at him, but she was smirking just like Hale.

He was going to give himself a point for getting her attention anyway.

Their class before lunch turned out to be the class that Stiles knew he was going to despise with every fiber of his being. Potions. The teacher who had handed out the schedules earlier turned out to be Professor Harris, a right bugger in Stiles' opinion. In every Gryffindor's opinion. They shared this class with the Slytherins, and even though he was the head of their House-- Harris favored _no one._ It was terrifying. Each desk had three people sitting at it. The minute they walked in Scott had seen Allison sitting by herself. He grabbed Stiles and yanked him to where Allison was sitting in the front of the room. Scott opened his mouth to speak when she looked up and he said...nothing. He froze.

Stiles rolled his eyes before focusing on Allison "He was wondering if we could sit here." Scott nodded eagerly and Allison gave this cute, little, dimpled smile as she agreed that they could indeed sit there. Scott sat on her left, Stiles on her right. The first thing Scott asked her was which Quiditch team was her favorite. This was, apparently, a good move because she lit up and the delved into a discussion of feinting at the last World Cup until Harris strode into the classroom.

"Shut up! Class has begun, turn your text books to page 10 and read until page 27. Then, you will begin a two page essay on the basics of potion making. It is due tomorrow. If you wish to ever participate in actually _making_ potions within this classroom-- you will do this to the best of your ability." That was their entire first class. _The enitre first class was reading and an essay assignment._ Stiles hated Harris, with a passion.

Lunch passed in a blur, Greenburg sat with them again. They learned his first name was David, his favorite color was orange and he'd already managed to annoy one teacher today, but he didn't know which one. Scott and begged Allison to sit with them at lunch during their incarceration in Potions. She had agreed, if she could bring some friends along. Now, sitting at the _Gryffindor_ lunch table, their little group was joined by their new Hufflepuff friend, Allison, Lydia, Jackson and another Ravenclaw named Danny. They were oblivious to the odd stares that they were garnering, they were having fun for the most part. But Stiles really hated Jackson now. He couldn't tell you why, maybe the egotism an eleven year old had clearly not earned.

After lunch came DADA with Professor Hornwood. He was a cool old guy, but he fell asleep about twenty minutes into class. They goofed off the entire period, Greenburg happened to be in this class and was very excited when he was included in the paper ball war-- which turned into Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff. Stiles wasn't sure who had won, but a lot of people had paper cuts on their faces and huge grins, too.

After was Professor Morell, who taught Herbology. She had a nice voice and looked a lot like Deaton, in Stiles' opinion. She showed them a plant that could help prevent blindness and poison you if the nectar was cultivated from it in a way that aggravated the plant. Jackson aggravated a flower by yelling at it when he got frustrated, he got sent to the Hospital Wing with a rash and a scolding that warned him that it could have been much worse. 

**  
**Their last indoor class was History of Magic with Headmaster Argent. He started off by telling the bloody tale of the Werewolf War of 1497, one where his ancestor killed the 'Alpha' and ended the war in only six months, though the body count was estimated far too high for that short amount of  time. The entire time people kept glancing at Allison who was hiding her face in embarrassment. Scott wasn't just glancing, he was staring at her. Once he realized how unhappy she was with all of the attention he quickly wrote her a note and tossed it to her when Argent's back was turned. She peeked at it, then she started smiling her dimpled smile again. Stiles wasn't sure what Scott had written or drawn but he did get to read Allison's reply. "Thank you." it said. But Scott wouldn't stop talking about it, even after class as they prepared to walk out for their flying lessons. She had made the 'o' in 'you' a heart.

****************************************************************************************************

Stiles would not do this. Because it wouldn't end well. He was staring at the broom on the ground next to him in doubt. Professor Finstock had shown up and handed out broomsticks immediately. When he reached David he looked at him for a second before dismissively saying "Greenburg." Greenburg gave Stiles a panicked look and he realized that Finstock must have been the teacher that Greenburg had knocked down almost a full flight of stairs today. 

"Alright, listen up. This is easy. My dead grandmother could do this. Just put your hand over the broom and say up. But don't be afraid. They can sense fear. And," he blew his whistle. Stiles wanted to break that whistle. Stiles contemplated his broom for a second as most everyone else yelled at their brooms. Scott's flew up the first time, so did Jackson's. Danny got his up next, followed by Boyd and Erica. Allison's was jerking but not raising off the ground, so Scott ran to help her like a knight in shining armor. 

Stiles finally decided that he was ready, he took a deep breath and said "Up." His voice wavered and the broom didn't even twitch. He sighed and glared at the broom, trying again with the same results. Deaton's voice filled his head.

_"First years! Toward the lake!"_ Stiles remembered how firm his voice had been, how it had carried and no one doubted it for a second. He focused on that, trying to integrate it into his voice.

"Up." Stiles commanded softly. The broom jumped eagerly into his outstretched palm. 

By the end of their lesson, every one could hover-- even Greenburg, much to Finstock's disappointment. He really liked yelling at Greenburg for some reason. Erica ran immediately over to him, clutching his hand while Boyd was dragged along in her other. Isaac came over, leaning on Scott. Both were groaning loudly.

"Fooooood. Need fooooood." they growled out in union. Isaac fixed his sight on Erica, grinning evily. "Looks like food." Her eyes widened and she took off running, all four boys in pursuit, straight for the castle. They heard laughter around them, but they ignored it. Yes, even Stiles. He did not so much as peak in the direction of the laugh that he thought might belong to Derek Hale.

***********************************************************************************************

At dinner, they gained two new friends. Cora Hale, dark hair and dark eyes, sat down on Erica's left. Some eyebrows were raised but no one objected and she seamlessly fitted herself into the conversation. On one side of the table was Greenburg, Allison, Scott, Stiles and Isaac. Opposite them were Lydia, Jackson, Danny, Boyd, Erica and, now, Cora. They ate in relative peace. This time, however, they started noticing the odd looks. Some Gryffindor, a prefect badge on her chest stood and marched over to the gaggle of first years. "You're not supposed to be here." she stated primly. Greenburg automatically started to rise.

"Sit down, David." Lydia ordered. He did. She turned to the prefect "Is there a rule?"

"What?"

"Is. There. A. Rule. That. We. Can. Not. Sit. Together?" she enunciated it like the prefect was slow of learning. The prefect's face reddened in anger.

"No, but-"

"Then, we can sit here. If there was a rule I'd already be gone." Lydia said simply before returning to the salad she considered a meal. The older girl huffed in annoyance but stalked back to her seat. Stiles grinned widely at her, impressed with her for standing up to a fifth year, but she didn't even spar him a glance when Jackson started complementing her. Stiles rolled his eyes and started when another voice interrupted them.

"Allison. What are you doing?" an ice cold, female voice questioned. Stiles turned and saw the girl who had almost knocked Erica over yesterday night behind them. She had long, llight brown hair and darker brown eyes. Her lips were pursed as she glared at Allison, who looked back sheepishly. 

"I was just-"

"Kate," a famaliar boy's voice interrupted "Hey." Stiles fixed wide eyes on Derek who was nervously rubbing a hand over the back of his kneck. Kate's entire demeanor changed when she saw Derek, eyes softened and lips curved into a glamorous smile.

"Derek. Hey, kid." she greeted, eyes sparkling in amusement when he flinched at her calling him a kid. "What's up, lion boy?"

He shuffled his feet nervously before answering "Well, this year, Hogsmeade-"

"Let's go somewhere private and talk about this, okay?" she cut him off, moving quickly toward the Hall's exit. Derek sent his sister a look of embarrassment and happiness before following Kate. Cora rolled her eyes and turned back to her conversation with Erica about how Isaac had to use some kind of potion to keep it that poofy. Isaac was studiously ignoring the girls, though he red cheeks betrayed him, and talking to Jackson and Boyd about the school Quidditch teams and when the tryouts might be. Stiles was looking after Derek in confusion. Wasn't Kate too old for him?

"Allison," Stiles started "How old is Kate?" Allison looked up from her conversation with Scott to look at Stiles consideringly.

"Seventeen. She'll be eighteen in two months." Stiles turned to Cora now.

"How old is Derek?" Cora gave him a look of understanding. 

"Thirteen. His birthday is January 14th. And, yeah. The two of them? It's all kinds of wrong but Derek just says that they're friends." Cora rolled her eyes again. Stiles was starting to notice that she did that a lot. Before Stiles could say anything else, the group of kids was interrupted for the third time that night by another girl.

"Can I sit with you? I overheard you telling off that prefect and thought you did it really well." it was Kira. She was shifting her wait from foot to foot in nervousness. Stiles, acting like Cora, rolled his eyes.

"Sure. Sit next to Isaac, the boy with the poofy hair." The girls all laughed as Kira sat down next to an abashed looking Isaac.

_So this Hogwarts,_ Stiles thought as he looked around at all the people he had started to get to know _. I think my dad is going to be so happy about this._

 

 

 

 


	3. A Homecoming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's three years later and Stiles & Company are going back to Hogwarts for a magical, marvelous, murderous year. This is where we start the main part of the story so buckle up.

"Boys! Hurry your collective asses up! King's Cross isn't next door you know!" a frazzled, and heavily annoyed, Melissa McCall shouted up the stairs for the sixth time that morning. The upstairs of the McCall house, three bedrooms and three baths, was thundering with activity. A gaggle of fourteen year old boys were racing around the upstairs in a flurry of heavy foot fall and hushed cursing. Hushed because Melissa McCall could have heard a pixie giggle from two blocks away. As Melissa returned to the bottom of the stairs, five minutes later for the seventh time, seven young wizards plodded down the steps dragging along various trunks and animals in cages.

First came Scott, floppy hair and puppy dog eyes retained even through puberty. He shot his bemused mother a tiny smile and hurried to the front door. Next came Jackson Whittemore, a boy far more handsome than  _some_ people would have liked him. If Melissa hadn't seen him almost every summer since her son began Hogwarts she wouldn't understand why a boy who claimed to dislike so many of his "friends" came at all. Danny Mahealani flashed his diamond white smile at Scott's mother, making her laugh softly as he passed. She new for a fact he was the one who glued Greenburg's trunk shut and caused most of the morning's delay--and he knew that _she_ knew. Boyd, the one who _un_ glued Greenburg's trunk, came down next. He gave Melissa a ghost of a smile when she beamed at him as Isaac chattered away blithely in his ear. Isaac, hair still vivacious and _naturally_ curly, had become the tallest of all the boys, surpassing even Stiles by an inch. 

Stiles came down last, having used the shower last and having misplaced his trainers momentarily. Even though Isaac beat him in height he was still very tall for a boy of fourteen. In fact, all of Melissa McCall's adopted summer sons were. As Stiles stepped in with Scott, bumping his shoulder good-naturedly, Melissa clapped her hands gaining the boys attention from their various conversations. "Okay, boys. We have about fourty minutes to get to the station. It's only ten, maybe twenty, minutes away but I know you want to get good seats near the girls. So let's hurry up." Heavy murmuring of agreement followed this as the boys pressed throught the door, all trying to get out first.

"Wait! Wait!" a frantic voice shouted from upstairs. Melissa, Scott and Stiles, the only ones still in the house, turned as Greenburg came racing down the stairs, clutching a hissing feline and dragging along a clunky trunk. "I found him. I found Perry. He was hiding on the roof outside of Scott's room. Sorry if I held anything up." Melissa smile in amusement as she took in the hissing and spitting cat, the boys behind her winced at almost forgetting Greenburg.

"That's fine, David, honey. We wouldn't leave without you." at the second part of hair statement she shot a reproving look at Stiles and Scott, making sure that Greenburg missed it. "Let's get you and Perry to the car."

Stiles and Scott hung back as the healer and the unlucky wizard trotted ahead of them.

"Wasn't Danny the one who put Perry on the roof in the first place?" one quiet voice asked. An amused one replied to his dark haired best friend.

"No..." a shout that sounded uncannily like  _Get that mangy, hissing, ugly ball of grunge away from me!_ exploded from the car " I think it was Jackson this time. He's terrified of them." Scott and Stiles paused to observe the frantic figures all scrambling to get out of the way of the even more furious cat and panicking Jackson. Danny was sitting on the pavement, helplessly laughing.

After a moment of serious and stone-faced contemplation, Scott and Stiles joined in.

****************************************************************************************************************

They reached King's Cross about twenty five minutes later, David and Jackson both scratched across their arms. Melissa refused to heal them under the guise of accidental magic exposure to Muggles, but Stiles knew that she thought Jackson deserved a bit of punishment and she'd warned Greenburg all last night to cage Perry up for the trip because he and Jackson had a special hatred for each other. Getting out of her little, silver car must have looked odd for the fact that eight people never should have been able to fit in it. Even excluded all six animal cages they pulled out of the passenger seat. An old couple looked at them in the various states of being with disbelieving eyes but chose to ignore it as Stiles preened on the inside.  _Magic_ , _I love_ _it_. 

Melissa couldn't come through with them, her shift at St. Mungo's started in less then an hour and she had to bid them goodbye outside of the station. Scott gave his mother a quick, embarrassed kiss as Jackson smirked at him and the boys were going. They rushed through the Muggle station, passing quickly through the barrier and stepping onto Platform 9 3/4.  Stiles felt Danny's hand clasp his shoulder as he made a silent good bye to him as he passed and all but skipped off to his sixth year boyfriend, Aaron, much to the amusement of most his watching friends and the sullen pout of Jackson. Stiles shared an eye roll with Scott before heading off to find a compartment, the remaining five walking behind. Before Stiles could go more than seven steps a female voice started calling out their names. 

"Jackson! McCall!" okay, so the pretty strawberry blonde only called for Scott and Jackson but seeing as he, Stiles, was in that group, he counted it as a win. At least until the got on the train and made their way to the compartment Lydia had been shouting at them from saw how the situation was going to go down. Scott slid past Stiles and made his way to his almost girlfriend, Allison. She was still just as pretty as the day of their Sorting and Scott was even more in love. Jackson shoved past Stiles with a sneer to wrap himself around his actual girlfriend, the one Stiles was vaguely, hopelessly in love with. Lydia smirked at the rest of them as Danny's voice floated from the compartment, asking whether or not they were going in.

Scott shot Stiles a hesitant look that Stiles returned with a fake, encouraging smile. Scott. looking relieved, allowed Allison to pull him into the compartment that was quickly shut by Jackson once he and Lydia went inside. A moment of awkward silence, as the last four boys stood, lost, in the hall, permeated the air. Greenburg excused himself only a few moments after they began compartment hunting when he saw three fellow Hufflepuffs who tolerated him. Stiles didn't blame him. They looked like right gits walking around like this. Just as the train started moving a compartment door slammed open and a strong, feminine hand pulled Stiles, then Boyd, then Isaac in. 

The three of them fell in a heap to the soundtrack of laughing girls and the screeches of ruffled, aggravated owls. " You lot are pathetic." a slightly cold voice informs them. Stiles looks up to see Cora Hale staring down at him impassively. Next to her sat Erica, the one who yanked them through the door, and Kira curled up next to the window as she read a book and choked back laughter.

"Well, maybe, if Erica would stop pulling us around." Stiles muttered. Turning to the victorious blonde in question he turned on an oily sweet voice he'd heard Professor Hale use on seventh year girls all the time. " I mean, I know you've been deprived of some delectable men this summer but that doesn't mean you get the glory of this amazing-ness. You had your chance, blondie, but you're dating the Silence over their," he jerked his head to indicate Boyd, who, true to himself, was staying silent and impassive " and I won't go on to my man's territory."

Cora snorted as Kira hid a little behind her book, both Isaac  _and_ Boyd groaned a little and hurriedly took there seats opposite the girls as Stiles realized his mistake just a little too late.

"TERRITORY?!!? What do you mean TER-" but Stiles was saved a proverbial ball busting not seen since the time of Merlin as a familiar faced knocked on the glass door of the compartment before sliding it open.

A small smirk curved onto his face, prefect badge gleaming on his robes, Derek Hale spoke " It's not even ten minutes in yet Reyes. I really don't want any prefect Slytherin prick to walk by and use it to knock Gryffindor down some House points before the year even starts."

"Sorry, Derbear." Cora smirks, while Derek glared "We'll keep it down. If Stiles can keep his mouth in check."

"I can, if you can get that thing off your...oh, wait, no. It's just your face. My bad." Stiles shoots back. The boys, Derek included, burst out laughing while Kira hides her smile behind her book and Erica rolls her eyes.

"Are you gonna let him talk to me like that?" Derek thinks about it for a second. He examines his little sister, then Stiles, before smiling widely.

"Yes. See ya later, Stilinski. Corgi." with last laugh, Derek closes the door and is gone to the prefect meeting he's probably already late for. The compartment is silent for a moment as Cora fumes and Stiles preens. He may be in love with Lydia Martin but Derek Hale is.. _no, he's the brother of one your closest friends. And secretly dating Allison's cousin. Which is weird. Since, he's like sixteen and she's what,...20? 21? And, she's a teacher now_. When Professor Hornwood retired last year Headmaster Argent put his niece in the position without even thinking about it. Stiles does not approve.

As Stiles debated internally about Derek and the fact that he had come to notice his... _ass_ ets the past year whenever he wasn't looking at Lydia's hair or eyes or...whatever, Isaac seemingly decided to take on Stiles' role of putting his foot into his mouth.

"Corgi? Cora...did Derek just call you a bitch in a round about way?"

To Stiles' guilty relief, Isaac became the one to receive the day's first ball busting.

******************************************************************************************************

The train ride went quickly to Stiles. One minute he and Cora were arguing if their Quidditch team would be any good this year and if they might make it on like Scott, Danny and Jackson did the year before, the next the train whistle was blowing and they were slowing down. Getting out was always a hassle but Boyd was always a good buffer and Erica was rather vocal.

They made it to the carriages quick enough. Scott and Lydia and their group was a way behind, but Stiles couldn't bring himself to feel to bad as he waved to Deaton who raised a hand back in greeting. He was back. Hogwarts. The air off the lake, the rattling of the forest leaves on the breeze. And, no offence to his dad or Melissa, but this place was beautiful. Magical. It reminded him of his mother. He was aching for another year to start.

He was home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really, very very very very very VERY sorry about this looooong wait. Honestly, my university just finished and I've been so swamped with thesis papers and finals that I couldn't think and this story fell between the cracks. But my best friend, bless her!!, was reading this and asked why I hadn't updated. So shout out to Beth for some well needed reminding. Updates should becoming frequently every week or every other week. Starting on the next chapter right now actually!! Hope you keep reading and a thousand apologies.


	4. Bed-knobs and Broomsticks.

"Ah, come on Stiles it wasn't that bad!" Scott whined to his best friend-- his best friend who was currently throwing his rumpled clothing out of his trunk onto his bed with a viscous expression. The feast had ended twenty minutes ago and Stiles was still seeing red. He was almost exploding with pent up aggravation, enough of it to not notice that every item of clothing thrown haphazardly around was being slowly levitated into his drawers by Isaac. Boyd's expression was calm, bored, but his eyes had a twinkle that Stiles really didn't care for.

"Yes, it was! Did you  _see_ her, Scott? She was undressing him with her eyes, from the  _HEAD TABLE_. Like, I know she's Argent's daughter so she cand do whatever she wants apparently but EW. No. No. And  **NO.** He's sixteen Scott!  _ **SIXTEEN!**_ She's what? Like, thirty??" Stiles cried, flinging out his arms for emphasis, almost smacking a floating pair of underwear out of its carefully controlled path.

Scott stared wide-eyed at his upset roommate, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably "No, she's 21, Stiles. Not thirty. And, I know that she's not always nice to everybody but Allison says she's fine, a little distant to people but--" Scott stopped automatically as the door to their room opened, revealing two girls who were already changed and ready for bed unlike any of the boys. Erica walked automatically to Boyd's bed and flopped down, pouting up at him expectantly until he sat down next to her and started playing with her hair with a small but bright smile. Cora followed but she looked as upset as Stiles, falling sharply back on Isaac's bed. 

Cora, still laying down on Isaac's bed, staring murderously at the ceiling ( _it has to be the eyebrows,_ Stiles thought, sidetracked,  _no one family can **all**  have a naturally brooding expressions_), quickly voiced her opinion on the matter "We could hear you idiots in our dorm. Keep it down, the entire Gryffindor population doesn't need to know about my brother's bad taste in women. But, yeah, she needs to check her crap before she finds her self on the wrong side of a boil growing hex. It's creepy. It always has been." Stiles pumped his fist in the air, giving Scott a victorious  _Yeah!_ before falling back on his free-of-clothing bed. Realizing immediately what Isaac, the only neat freak in the room, had done, Stiles turned to speak to him about letting him and his  _personals_  be free. But, Scott jumped back into arguing before he could say anything to their resident OCD angel. **  
**

"They're like, four years apart, it won't be a problem when he graduates. So why are you two freaking out?" puppy dog eyes were thrown uselessly toward Stiles who laughed angrily.

"She's his  _teacher,_ Scotty! It's all  _kinds_ of wrong! Not to mention that there's a law that says if he's under 17 she should keep her pedo hands away from him! We already have one creeper on staff, we don't need two!" Isaac's brows furrowed at Stiles' last statement.

"Who's the creeper, again?"

In unison, almost distractedly, everyone answers "Peter." Even Cora couldn't deny it, not once she saw him going on a date two summers ago with a ,not quite, 18 year old who had just finished Hogwarts. She confronted her uncle and claimed to have been mentally scarred forever because the girl in question tutored her in Potions, but Peter may or may not have paid her 20 gallons to keep quiet, so she never said a word about it and refused to even acknowledge that it had happened.

Scott hung on to his ideal determinedly, but his declaration of " _-if they're in love-"_ was cut short by Cora's short, shriek of frustration. "Love? Love!? Tell me you're joking, McCall. She's  _using_ him. For what, I don't know. But, even when she was a student here she never paid him any attention, nevertheless at breakfast he would show up with scratches and hickeys on his neck and she'd be at the Slytherin table hanging all over the older versions of idiots like Reddick and Unger!"  Jason Reddick and Brandon Unger were sixth year Slytherins who are very open about their hate for muggleborns, werewolves, goblins, muggles, and pretty much anything that wasn't a " _rightful"_ witch or wizard. "SO, no, Scott. Keep your Romeo and Juliet tendencies out of this. They aren't you and Allison, destined for life-altering, earth shattering, soulful love. She's a bitch of epic proportions and he's a gigantic git who is gonna get hurt, badly. End of story."

Everyone went very quiet after that, Stiles was still angry but he went and showered so he wouldn't _actually_ attempt to jinx Scott when he heard his best friend mutter "Me and Allison? It's that obvious?" in an awed, slightly goofy voice. Stiles loved the guy, but that was not what he should have taken from that whole thing. Reaching the painting of Bethilda the Bumbling, an old witch with large, wire glasses, in front of a lake shore he said "Cleanliness is next to godliness." and the portrait swung open to welcome him. The stupid bath was shared by Ravenclaw and Gryffindor boys who weren't prefects or head boys, and most times Stiles could almost count on the fact that there would be at least two or three gits taking a bath or showering.   Tonight, it seemed, that there weren't any people at all and Stiles couldn't have felt more relieved. He took one long look at the self-cleaning, bubble making, monstrosity of a community bath and forcefully made himself walk to  the left where a long line of showers stood. The marble was ice cold on his feet as he dropped his robes on the floor around his feet and silently laid his red sleep pants, black bed robe and wand in a pile on an offered bench.

Stepping in he twisted the old knob on the wall until water fell from the shower head, hot but staying just short of giving him real burns. He stood there for ten minutes, pale back turning a bright pink as the water scalded it. Ten minutes he was silent until he heard a set of light foot steps padding toward him. A moment of silence followed, then water turned on in the stall to his right. The stalls were all tall enough that when the boys stood next to each they couldn't see anything important unless they leaned over the marble divider. But, at the same time, they were short enough that ,eventually, you would grow enough over the years so that you could see the person's head and shoulders next to you. Stiles had reached this point in the last two years, along with most of the other guys in his class.

Stiles didn't even raise his head, he didn't need to. He knew that he had to visibly look pained to any onlooker: hunched into the wall, balanced with his palms on the smooth marble and taking audible, calming breaths. There were three, maybe four, guys who would stand in the stall next to him when there were fourteen others available for their bathing purposes. Scott would have already apologized or started talking about Allison, so it wasn't him. Isaac would have asked if he was okay and Danny, on the rare day he showered at night, would have automatically greeted him with a short "Stilinski." and waited for him to talk about what was wrong with him instead of asking. So it could only be one other person.

"I'm fine. Really. Scott just needs to stop being an idiot with his romantic crap. And, then we have to save Derek from himself because he clearly has no sense of self-preservation. Erica and Lydia could help, they're both great at manipulation. Also, on the matter of Argents, I was thinking about how old Headmaster Argent is compared to his kids. He has to be sixty something, so Kate must have been born when he was forty something, but I know,  _for a fact,_ that Allison's dad is forty-two. So what's with the age gap? Accidental impregnation during fun time? Ew, wait, no. I never want to think about the Headmaster during his  _fun time,_  again. That will ruin any fun time I get to have, I know it. I'll be kissing someone, and then, **bam**! Wrinkled, old man Argent doing the do. Just, no. Oh, _Merlin_ , that is a nasty thought. Though, with how everything is going I might never have my own Stiles Stilinski-patented fun time, so it might not matter." Stiles grumbled loudly to Boyd, finally tipping his head back to let the water run down his face and all the thoughts run from his mind and out of his mouth. Ever stoic, Boyd didn't respond, he just let Stiles prattle on until he felt better. "I mean, I'm attractive. Right? I mean, Danny admitted it! Okay, so he admitted it _after_ I nagged him about me being attractive to gay guys a full month last year, but it still counts! And, Heather said I was cute. I know she's done with school now but she said she'd totally shag me if I was older....but she _was_ epicly smashed, too. So...I'm not actually sure if that one counts." Stiles paused for breath again. Now he grabbed the soap that had appeared for him, because  _magic_ , and started washing furiously, still nowhere near peaceful. 

So, maybe he lied to Boyd. He wasn't fine, _at all,_  because images of that _harpy_ and Derek, _together_ , were appearing in his over active mind and it was driving him  _crazy_. "OK, maybe I'm not fine.  _Maybe._ But, that wise, eye sparkle you inherited from Deaton that you gave me earlier was not necessary. I was upset because I don't trust Kate, oh, wait,  _Professor Argent_ _,_ around Derek. At all. She gives me,  _and_ Cora, the creeps. She just needs to respect the fact that secret dating her student of sixteen is still as illegal as openly dating him. But that is the _only_ reason I was upset, because he clearly can't see what he's walking into. So you don't need to act all knowing when there's absolutely  _nothing_ to know. Because I'll be the first to admit that Derek Hale is incredibly good looking. Just his face is amazing. Like his smile? It's so gorgeous. And I mean the real one, not the one with his isanely white teeth, that he gives Professor Blake when he forgets to do his Charms homework. I mean the one where his eyes crinkle first, and then, and _only then,_ does he smile. And, I won't even start on the coined "Derek Booty", because I'm pretty sure it has its own fan club separate from the man himself. Just like his abs. Even  _Scott_ admits that he has an impossibly amazing six pack. Like, when did he get that? And, I remember the guy who was all lean and muscled but now he's turning into  **ACTUAL**  muscle. How did he do that?" Stiles turned his head to the right to give Boyd a despairing and frustrated look that he hoped would convey exactly how much he was aware of the fact that he was attracted to Derek, and Cora did  _not_ need to know, but Stiles was only mad because Derek was setting himself up to get hurt and didn't seem to notice. He expected Boyd to nod once, smirk a little and shrug. But Boyd disappointed Stiles. He disappointed him by not being there to meet Stiles' gaze.

Instead, Stiles turned to meet the carefully constructed, blank gaze of one Derek Hale. Stiles felt his mouth drop open and he floundered for something,  _anything,_ to say. Derek just stared at him with his blue-yet-green eyes and said nothing, his hand locked in his dark hair where he hand been washing it. Stiles didn't feel like an eternity went on when their gazes locked, he felt like time stopped, to one look at his predicament and fell over laughing at him. He had just called Derek hot for all intent and purposes, and _before_ that he called his secret girlfriend a bitch.  _Good job, Stilinski! See if he ever talks to you again._

A loud "There you are!" boomed through the bathroom, startling them both. Stiles and Derek snapped their heads around to see Tucker Cornish, a seventh year Gryffindor, stride into the room and start stripping. He was tall and tan, with muscles and black hair with dark blue eyes. He also happened to be this years Gryffindor Quidditch captain, as Stiles had heard him yelling to everyone in ear shot during the feast. "Was Derek telling you?" he asked, stepping into the stall on the other side of Derek. Stiles took his eyes from Tucker and quickly looked at Derek who was studiously cleaning his hair with that careful, blank expression still on his face.

"Telling me what?" Stiles managed to ask without squeaking. Tucker smiled widely and grabbed his own bar of soap before answering. Stiles quickly took his cue from the other two guys and started washing again, only to hear the water turn on in the stall to his left. He glanced over and saw a  _clearly_ smirking Boyd.  _Traitor,_ Stiles thought with gusto before turning his, now irritated, gaze back onto Tucker who was looking over at him expectantly. Once satisfied that his audience was paying attention he began talking again.

"Quidditch, of course! As you should know, both of our beaters, Josh and Tara, and two of our chasers, Paige and Heather, graduated last year. So, we have four spots open that we need to fill. And, I remember your tryout last year. You were good, but we only needed one chaser and Scotty was just  _that much_ better than you. But, I wanted to make sure you were still coming to tryouts on Saturday. We sure could use you." Tucker shot him a smile that would have won him first place for anything sponsored and judged by _Witches Weekly_. But, Stiles felt his eyes drawn to Derek. The Hale in question was watching him sideways and and nodded ever so slightly when he caught Stiles' gaze. Stiles swallowed quickly, distracted from giving Tucker his answer, as he watched the water roll down Derek's neck and pool momentarily in the hollow of his throat. He was quickly saved from further embarrassment when Boyd, catching on to where Stiles' mind was probably heading, reached over and smacked his shoulder. 

"Sure. Yeah. Definitely. Be there. I mean, I'll be there, definitely. Sure." Boyd reached over and hit him again so he'd shut up.

"Great! See you there, Stilinski! Come on, Derek." Tucker chirps, his water shutting off. He steps out and dresses quickly. Derek follows his lead but does it slowly, hesitantly. Stiles pointedly continues to face the wall until he hears both Derek and Tucker walk away. The last thing Stiles hears from them is from Tucker "See ya, Stilinski! You too, Boyd!" Then the door is opening and shutting behind them.

It's quiet for a minute until Stiles looks over at Boyd who's laughing silently.

*********************************************************************************

Scott and Isaac step through the bathroom's portrait right as Stiles yells "SHUT UP! YOU SHOULDN'T LAUGH AT ANYTHING! YOUR NAME'S VERNON! HA!" and it's quickly followed by a loud smack and a yelp from Stiles and out right laughter from Boyd. Isaac raises an eyebrow toward the steaming showers before glancing over at Scott who's walking with a purpose toward the bath pool.

Scott gives him a glance "I'm not getting involved with that. A bath sounds a lot better." Isaac hesitates, looking worriedly in Stiles and Boyd's direction, until he hears Boyd, in an act very unlike him, start yelling back at Stiles.

"IT'S NOT MY FAULT YOU BITCHED ABOUT HIS GIRLFRIEND AND THEN DECLARED YOUR UNDYING LOVE FOR HIS ASS, STILES! LOOK UP NEXT TIME!" 

Isaac spins on his heels and strides over to where Scott is stripping, saying "You're right. A bath sounds a lot more appealing. And safer."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, four chapters in!!! I love the kudos guys, thank you :) It means a lot, really! But, there's a lot of silence too. Opinions anyone?? I'm dying over here.


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